If you've made it this far, then you have obviously conquered any issues you have with my changes to characters. Hope this chapter continues to please...
It was a beautiful sunny day and Faramir had to restrain himself from pulling off his hood and mask. At times like these, the need for anonymity was a real burden. But since it was anonymity that allowed him to do the work that he did; work that was vitally important to so many people, it was a burden he would continue to shoulder. He remembered something his father had told him.
"Son, with power comes responsibility. Never forget that. It is the duty of the strong to take care of the weak. Otherwise, we become like wild beasts in the woods, taking without conscious or mercy. Civilization can hide many ills, my boy, never allow yourself to become complacent. Never allow justice to be subverted, no matter what the reason. You have a smart mind and a strong heart – always let them guide you and you will never go astray. "
Faramir felt tears form as he thought of his beloved father. He missed him so much. But he knew that his father would be proud of him for what he was doing. It was for his father's sake, as much as for the peasants he protected, that he did what he did. He was standing up for those who could not, just as his father had taught him. He wiped his eyes and once more watched the road. Now was not the time for reminiscing. He had a job to do.
As he looked around for any hints of danger, he saw the small things that told him that his men were in place. It took a very well-trained eye to pick them out. his men had become very skilled woodsmen over the years, and it was more from knowing where to look than actually seeing them that allowed him to spot them. He smiled beneath the mask and allowed himself to feel a surge of pride. These men had come to him, some angry and some broken, but all with the same desire: to see justice done. Over time he had slowly worked with them, molding them into a committed, cohesive team. The wild anger had been tempered into a desire to aid those who still suffered. The broken hearts and souls rebuilt into compassion for those in need. This was not about revenge and inflicting pain against those who had wronged them. This was about redressing a balance and this was done with honor, not anger.
A birdcall was heard and Faramir's head snapped up. That was the sign from the lookout that their man was coming into place. Faramir readied himself by quietly drawing his sword. His men would cover him from the trees; he had no worries about his safety. Had the man been followed, the lookout would have signaled for them to retreat. As his eyes watched the road, his ears listened for thesounds of their arriving visitor. It wasn't long before the sound of a cart was heard. As it came out of the trees, Faramir moved out of his cover and stepped onto the road. He carried his sword in one hand and raised the other to signal the cart to stop.
The man drew up his horses immediately and tied off the reins on the seat. He then slowly raised his hands to indicate that he was unarmed and no threat. Faramir nodded his head and walked towards the cart. When he had come alongside the driver, the man looked down on him with a smile and said "Well, it's a fine day indeed and make no mistake on that. A nice day for traveling it is. Though perhaps not as fine a day for you with all that get up on. Bet you are wishing for a nice cool dip in a lake right about now."
Faramir smiled, though the cart driver could hardly see that. He sheathed his sword and said "That would be nice indeed, Angarad, but I'm afraid that will have to wait until our business here is concluded. We have need for you to make some deliveries in Southern Ithilien and Gondor. I also need you to make arrangements for a delivery to Rohan. Do you see any problems with that?"
The cart driver shook his head. "Travel through Ithilien and Gondor is simple enough. There's a few patrols on the borders of Ithilien, but I make the trip so often that they don't bother searching me anymore. And even if they did, the bolt holes are secure enough they'd never find them. I'd make the trip to Rohan myself but that might cause some suspicion on the Rohan side of things. They've grown a might bit antsy since Denethor has been raising the taxes there and they were already pretty riled up about being put under the "protection" of Gondor. But I've got some trading contacts in Rohan who have been helping me and they'll be glad to see the delivery is received."
Faramir nodded in agreement. "Good then. Work through your contacts. I'd rather not have you exposing yourself to any more risks then you already are. You're very valuable to me and I'd be hard pressed to replace you." Faramir signaled to his men and half a dozen of them came forward, carrying large sacks. Faramir handed him a piece of parchment. "This contains the instructions for distribution. Destroy it when you've memorized it. And take great care. Denethor is going to be livid about this latest loss and you may find that he's instigated patrols and searches that haven't been there before."
The cart driver just grinned and said, "What's life without risks?" He climbed down from the driver's seat and walked around to where the men were carrying the sacks to be loaded. He untied the oilcloth that protected the contents of the cart and began carefully moving things aside. He then opened the cleverly concealed bolt holes and the men began to hand him the sacks for storage. Faramir watched all of this with a vague sense of unease. He couldn't put his finger on it but he had this feeling that something was coming. And it was coming because of this shipment.
The men had handed up the last sack, and the driver carefully closed up the bolt hole. Once sealed, you would never know that anything was there. He rearranged the wagon bed and retied the oilcloth, preparing to get underway. Faramir stopped him with a hand on his arm. "I meant what I said, please take care. Things are getting hotter and I don't want you to take any risks you don't have to." The driver just grinned. "Don't worry about me, I always take care of myself. You just look to your own hide. With the price on your head, someone might just be stupid enough to decide it's fox hunting season." With that final shot, he moved away from Faramir and climbed back onto his cart. Untying the reins, he slapped them down, signaling for the horses to walk on. As the cart passed Faramir he said, "Until next time my foxy friend".
Faramir just chuckled and waved. As the cart lumbered away, he melted back into the woods with his men. The money was on its way. Angarad would see it delivered to the people who needed it, including some in Rohan. He wished he could send it all back to Rohan, but there were so many people in need that he had to divide it as equally as possible. Still, there was enough going back to see that food was on the table for a large portion of the peasants of Rohan. He had to trust that their own nobles would do the rest.
He sighed in frustration. For all that he did, it wasn't enough. Even as large of a shipment as this one was, it was still just a drop in the bucket against what was actually needed. But if he wasn't careful and took too many risks, went too far afield, then he would get captured and there would be no one to help. He was caught between a rock and a hard place and there was nothing to be done about it. He could only do what he could and hope that others would also take up the cause. Already he had a large network of people who helped him, either by distributing money or providing him with information. And the groundswell rumbling of unhappy people was beginning to grow. Even the nobles were starting to chafe under Denethor's iron grip. Perhaps help might finally begin to come from the people who should never have allowed things to go this far. It was about time that the nobles of Gondor started living up to their titles.
Eomer dropped back when he noticed that Faramir was still bringing up the rear. He waited for Faramir to reach him and then began walking along side him. "You are doing everything there is to be done. Brooding about what is still left isn't going to change anything," he said bluntly.
Faramir sighed and said, "I know that but I can't help but think about it. Thanks to Denethor's empire building there are more people than ever who are suffering under his heavy-handed rule. We don't even know how the Hobbits in the Shire are doing. What if Denethor is demanding more from them than just hostages? Pippin says their wealth is in their land not in coins. What will he do if they can't pay? Will he take more of their children? Too many of them have already been stripped away from their homes. This can't be allowed and yet what can I possibly do to stop it?" Even with the mask, Eomer could easily recognize the distress on Faramir's face.
Eomer grabbed Faramir's arm and jerked him to a halt, effectively stopping his speech as well. "Faramir, you are borrowing trouble. If Denethor was levying taxes from the Shire, we would have heard about it from our people. A shipment coming that far would have to have a very large escort to see it to Gondor. We would have heard about it." He emphasized that last statement with a squeeze and then let go of Faramir's arm.
Faramir shook his head and said, "You're right. Something like that would have come through the grapevine to us. " Faramir began walking again and Eomer kept pace with him. Faramir could feel Eomer's eyes on him and knew that the blonde was still concerned about him. Eomer was his best friend and his most trusted ally, but sometimes his mothering was just a bit invasive. He heaved a sigh knowing that Eomer would stare at him all day until he got an answer he was satisfied with. "I'm just feeling a bit uneasy. I've got a vague feeling that something is going to happen."
Eomer grunted. "You've got a vague feeling something is going to happen. What are you some kind of seer now? The shipment is going to be fine. We're going to be fine. There's nothing happening around here, so we'll be able to lie low for a couple of weeks. I know it's hard to shut off that overactive brain of yours, but try. Otherwise I'll have to set Pippin on you and you know you don't want that."
Faramir groaned. Pippin could be relentless when it came to cheering someone up. He took it as his personal mission in life to see that everyone around him was happy and he'd follow you around for days if necessary to see it done. "Ok, you win. I'll stop brooding over Denethor, at least for a couple of days. Will that make you happy?"
Eomer grunted "Yeah, that will do for now". And with that he lapsed into silence as they made their way back to camp.